Light Cycle

[RobertG]

Well I just opened my electric bill & ****! :o 485.00$$$$$

That hurts! What is the least amount of time I can run my lights for & still have a growing reef?

[Yano]

dang, I though last months of $350 was high lol. But I know my tank did not do that.

[Ram_Puppy]

I have been running, until now, my PC's 12 hours a day, and MH 10, I am thinking on cutting back, I have a 1100 sq ft apartment and my utility bill was 280 last month... fuel is up, it's hot... it sucks.

[R_S_C]

i noticed about a $50 a month increase when i added my MH's. I wonder too whether the lights are whats doing that or all the pumps? i know that my pumps are probably half my bill. :?

[Ram_Puppy]

Of course, I am sure turning off my two computers would help, i have a 500 watt power supply on one... plus the tank with the carnivorous plants in it...

you think 10 hours of PC and 8 hours of MH?

I am thinking of switching the light cycle over to night time too, one less thing for the AC to fight during the day, and it may keep the heat in the tank lower as well. (We run a lower AC at night as well.)

Oh,

and it is my understanding those 70 dollar window mount air conditioners that have at HD and walmart are more energy efficient than our big ones, the compressors are smaller and thus cost less to run... that may be on the shopping list as well.

[RobertG]

No laughs for me It hurts! I would like to cut them back to the least amount I can. Now they run & I dont get to see the tank until after 6-7 PM. My T5's come on at 11AM the two MH @ 12PM the other two @ 1PM All off by 11PM.

[GaryP]

Check you bill for a fuel surcharge. When the price of oil or gas goes up, they are allowed to pass along the difference to consumers. Oil hit an all time high this week. Of course most of our electricity comes from coal fired plants.

Gary

[Tim Marvin]

I am running halides for 8 hours per day, actinics run about 10. My bill is slightly over $200 last month.

[matt]

I've heard if you can set up a 240V circuit for your tank, your power bill will go down. Apparently HQI D.E. pendants and many larger pumps like the big iwakis run more efficiently on 240V, and cooler. Don't know if this is true, but worth a look. I've seen many 240V iwakis on ebay for a very reasonable price.

[RobertG]

Matt this is interesting, I have 3 pendants that are 230V input. Right now they have a stepup transformer that has the 120V input. Is there 230V timers preferably digital. I would do this just to find out how much I can save. Would I have to get the german inputs on the plugs. The plugs I have are the german style. Or could I just rewire them to a american style 230 plug? Anyone know? OR where I should look!

[Brett Wilson]

The poll isnt really going to get you anything other than whether or not people have MH, PC, or VHO. It has far too narrow of a time frame.
I run my lights 14 hours a day, MH and PC.

[brewercm]

I run my MH 9 hours and my VHOs 12.

[Instar]

pc 10k - 12 hours, pc actinic 14 hours, actinic no 16 hours, 65k pq 16 hours (fuge), moonlights 3 hours.